Neuss

Neuss (nois), city (1994 pop. 148,560), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany. It is a rail junction and canal port, near the left bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Its industries produce heavy and light machinery, chemicals, and food products; the city has an important grain market. Built on the site of a Roman camp called Novaesium, Neuss was chartered in the 12th cent. It belonged to the archbishopric of Cologne until the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1474–75, Charles the Bold of Burgundy, supporting the archbishop in a quarrel with the chapter of Neuss, unsuccessfully besieged the city for 11 months. It passed to Prussia in 1815. Noteworthy structures include the Romanesque Church of St. Quirinus (13th cent.), a city gate (13th cent.), and the city hall (17th–18th cent.).